Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Calls for Delay of April 7 Election

Tony Evers
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Hannah Knudsen

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) is calling for a delay of the state’s April 7 election and is urging the legislature to consider a measure that would send mail-in ballots to every registered voter in the state.

Evers on Friday signed an executive order directing the legislature to meet in a Special Session on Saturday to weigh a measure that would effectively provide all registered voters with mail-in ballots, accompanied by a May 26 deadline for returns:

Evers said:

I urge the legislators to take this call for a special session seriously. They must do their part to ensure public safety by convening in special session tomorrow to take an up-or-down vote to send a ballot to every registered voter by May 19 who hasn’t already requested it, and to extend the time for those ballots to be received by May 26.

While the governor said the legislators were not interested in his proposal weeks ago, he believes they may have had a change of heart.

“I worked with the legislators several weeks ago, in talking about this exact same thing … They weren’t interested, I believe they will be now,” the governor said. “We are looking forward to having a great conversation with the legislature.”

“If they take no action, we’ll be looking at whatever action we can take,” he added. “We will continue to find ways to make sure Wisconsinites are safe, and that’s the bottom line.”

The state is currently slated to hold its elections on April 7, as scheduled. Thousands of poll workers are signaling that they will not work due to growing fears of the coronavirus. Several polling stations are shutting down and consolidating as a result of the shortage of poll workers.

As of Tuesday, roughly 7,000 poll workers across the state said they would not show up. Evers initially said they would address the issue of understaffed polling locations by deploying the National Guard.

“Governor Evers has agreed to use members of the Wisconsin Army National Guard to assist as poll workers, but it is anticipated that the assistance of the National Guard will not satisfy all of the current staffing needs,” Assistant Attorney General Hannah Jurss wrote in a brief.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who trails Joe Biden (D) by over 300 pledged delegates, has since called for Wisconsin officials to delay the election and “move entirely to vote-by-mail.”

“People shouldn’t have to put their lives on the line to vote. Wisconsin should join the 15 states delaying elections, delay Tuesday’s vote, extend early voting, and work to send every voter a ballot by mail,” he said.

“While we wait for a decision we urge our supporters to vote-by-mail,” he added:

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